Jenna Dewan and Channing Tatum in "Step Up"
courtesy of Disney Home Entertainment
"Dancing 101"

"Step Up" is out on DVD and this modern day romance with a dancing backdrop is "Dirty Dancing" brought up to the new millennium. In this film Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan step into the roles of troublemaker and society princess. The basic plot of "Dirty Dancing" is there but the setting has changed. Instead of the Catskills this story takes place in Maryland at the School of the Arts, and instead of dirty dancing these kids combine some hip hop moves with classical ballet. Whichever way you slice it this is a movie about dancing and romancing.

Hunky Channing Tatum plays Tyler Gage, an orphan living in a foster home. He is into stealing cars and vandalizing property. The latter gets him into trouble with the law and sentenced to two hundred hours of community service. The time is to be served by working as a janitor at the Maryland School of the Arts in Baltimore. Jenna Dewan plays a student at the school. The two meet, they dance, and wow!

With "High School Musical" breaking sales records this other dance movie should do just fine. Get the DVD and start dancing. And also start watching the winners of the MySpace Dance Contest.

Years ago Disney made numerous "True Life Adventures." These were the forerunners of movies like "March of the Penguins" as they showed real wilderness life. They were stories which were always told with humor and heart and they were enchanting.

Now they are available for a generation of viewers who never heard of or gotten a chance to see them. Disney is releasing four 2-disc volumes of these movies and they are keepers. They will enlighten you as they entertain you. So get them today.

Recently Matthew Perry received a Golden Globe nomination for his performance in the made for TV movie "The Ron Clark Story." Perry is awesome as the teacher from the South who migrated north to work in a school in Harlem. He brought his students love and education and touched their lives.

The movie is moving and touching. It has more of an impact because it is true. Perry's nomination is well deserved and the movie itself is one of the year's best on television.

Veteran actor Mickey Rooney co-stars in "The Adventures of the Black Stallion: Season 1." This DVD contains all twenty-six episodes about a boy and the horse he loves. They have one adventure after another and keep your attention by their true bond and dedication to each other. It is the perfect boy and his horse story.

The series is fast moving and fun as Alex (Richard Ian Cox) races the Black stallion. He is the only one who can ride him and when he is on his back they race like the wind. Rooney plays the older man who encourages him to race him.

What would Christmas be without a sentimental movie to make us cry. Such a film is "Angel In the Family." Meredith Baxter, Ronny Cox, Natasha Gregson Wagner and Tracy Needham star in this story about two sisters who have become alienated. They are so distant and estranged there seems no hope for forgiving and forgetting.

Then at Christmastime their deceased mother appears to them and leads them back to a loving relationship. Does that sound like a weeper or what! And it is! Don't miss this DVD for Christmas.

Finally you can rent "Mystery Woman: Sing Me A Murder." Kellie Martin and Clarence Williams III co-star in this mystery about three singers who are singing songs on their tour for charity. But the whole thing hits a sour note when there is an attempted murder.

Samantha Kinsey (Martin) has her hands full solving this potential crime. Is she up to it! You know she is.
 

 

 

 

 

©2003 Jackie K. Cooper

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